Bigger Fatter Politics is a fact based news source for all things fat and political. We present news and presidential politics from a fat centric and food centric perspective.
The virus is still spreading at epidemic rates in nearly half of U.S. states, with Texas at the top of the list, according to a study by Imperial College London. “There’s evidence that the U.S. is not under control, as an entire country,” Samir Bhatt, a senior lecturer in geostatistics at the college, told The Post.
There's good news, too: The study found that the virus's spread has slowed to a trickle in blue states but the numbers look grim across much of the South and Midwest aka Trumpistan or Trumpanistan. Read our health desk's story to learn where your state ranks.
To get a sense of what a gargantuan effort it will take to safely reopen the country, read two new stories that illustrate the problem in microcosm:
Treasonous Criminal Donald Trump shared a string of sexist tweets from a failed congressional candidate calling Hillary Clinton a "skank", suggesting that Nancy Pelosi's mouth be taped shut and mocking the physical appearance of former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.
The president shared eight posts from John K Stahl — who also has called Ms Abrams "Shamu" and the House Speaker "Super Skank" — amid a streak of messages attacking absentee ballots and promoting a discredited conspiracy theory about MSNBC host Joe Scarborough, while the nation's death toll from coronavirus pandemic approaches 100,000.
Mr Trump also has spent a part of the Memorial Day weekend golfing at his Trump National Golf Club in Virginia.
Op Ed: To Bill Clinton, Defend your wife honor and beat the shit out of Donald Trump and fuck his wife and daughter who really are skanks for good measure
Op Ed: Attention all Trump supporting Christians -- Please continue to defy the lock down order. Jesus will protect you. For everyone else, follow the science.Jesus will not protect non Trump supporters.
On Sunday, just days after Donald Trump encouraged houses of worship to reopen even in states under coronavirus lockdowns, churches from Maine to California defied the law and welcomed worshippers at live services.
In Washington State—the early ground zero of COVID-19 in America—Covenant Christian Church in Spokane welcomed a sizeable, mask-less crowd for morning prayers, according to the local Spokesman-Review. The Reverend Ken Peters, who claims he’d been holding in-person services since May 3, blasted the “satanic” agenda of Governor Jay Inslee’s stay-at-home order and vowed to start offering a second in-person service each Sunday evening.
Meanwhile, an independent Baptist church in southern New Jersey defied that state’s lockdown to hold Sunday services in a challenge to Governor Phil Murphy—whose executive order has kept churches closed since March, and who on Friday announced he’d allow gatherings of up to 25 people, but only outdoors. The Solid Rock Baptist Church in Berlin, along with the nearby Bible Baptist Church in Clementon, invited their members to the first in-person services since March, when those initial stay-at-home orders went into effect.
Pastor Ken Graves preaches during an indoor service at Calvary Chapel in Orrington, Maine, May 24. The service was held in defiance of Maine Gov. Janet Mills’ order that churches not reopen until May 29 and then only if they limit gatherings to 50 people or less and everyone wears a face mask.
Johanna S. Billings
Both of the Solid Rock pastors, Charles Clark Jr. and Charles Clark III, couched their reopening as a First Amendment right. They insisted that it was a patriotic act, and during their Sunday sermons, they repeatedly invoked Memorial Day, reminding congregants that men and women died to give Americans their freedom. And that freedom, they said, included the right to assemble and practice religion inside their church.
Out of precaution, coronavirus restrictions in New Jersey have kept church members worshipping via livestreams or limited to drive-in services. But many seemed eager to return, like the Clarks, who downplayed the risks of transmission by arguing that people were allowed in all sorts of places not protected by the Constitution, like Walmart and Starbucks.
“I was just in town, it was hopping,” Pastor Andrew Reese of the Clementon Bible Baptist Church told The Daily Beast on Saturday night. He had reopened last Sunday, and already has a court date in June for breaking Murphy’s executive order. That won’t stop him though, he said, even if he isn’t certain what the legal consequences might be.
Nor did it seem to be stopping Solid Rock members. The scene at the church Sunday morning looked less like the start of prayer and more like the beginning of a professional sporting event, as hundreds of congregants—many dressed in their church finest—flooded in to attend the 10 AM service.
Alex Norcia for The Daily Beast
During a fiery press conference before the service, the elder Pastor Clark delivered a sermon of sorts to the news cameras, calling Governor Murphy a “tyrant” and going so far as to read out the Merriam-Webster definition of the word in full. At one point, he even compared New Jersey to Nazi Germany, emphasizing that the U.S. Constitution was at stake. “This is not North Korea,” he said. “This is not China.”
That much was clear. American flags were everywhere—adorning the lawn, plopped next to the podium, draped behind the altar. Music blared from a pair of speakers. People carried signs and posters that read “Church Is Essential.”
A group of men and women in orange vests greeted members as they drove into the parking lot and led them to socially distanced spaces. At the entrance to the building, an usher directed church-goers through propped open doors, where they had their temperatures checked.
“This is so stupid,” a man murmured to church staff.
Inside, members had to sit at least six feet away from each other in the pews. Nobody could attend without a mask either—even if they disagreed.
“Personally, I can’t stand the masks,” said Andrew Heier, who has been a member of Solid Rock for five years and identified himself as a supporter of President Trump. “I’ll wear them if I have to. If this was on a scale, though, I’d fall somewhere in the middle: States need to reopen, but they need to do it carefully. Just because I want to go to church doesn’t mean I don’t care about other people.”
“It’s not, like, church is open, and then everybody’s sitting on each other’s laps and licking door handles,” he continued.
The younger Clark, who led Sunday morning’s service, said that Solid Rock and Clementon Bible Baptist were prepared to file a lawsuit should the governor not change his executive order and deem churches essential by the end of the week. Solid Rock already sent a letter directly to Murphy last week, and dozens of other pastors together recently signed a separate letter, urging the governor to reopen churches in New Jersey and threatening him with legal action should he not concede.
“This week, with or without permission, churches will be open,” the elder Clark promised during the service.
“Jesus,” he later said, “is essential.”
Alex Norcia for The Daily Beast
A similar vibe emanated from in-person services in Orrington, Maine on Sunday, where between 200 and 400 people gathered inside an old gym that now serves as Calvary Chapel. They were there not only to worship God but also to defy a state order that churches not reopen until May 29.
Governor Janet Mills announced May 22 that churches in Maine could reopen a week later for in-person services only if certain rules are followed. These include a 50-person limit, the wearing of face masks and maintaining six feet of space between attendees unless they are members of the same household.
Also on May 22, President Donald Trump declared he was identifying houses of worship as “essential places that provide essential services” and called upon state governors to allow them to reopen immediately.
“The governors need to do the right thing and allow these very important essential places of faith to open right now, for this weekend,” Trump said. “If they don’t do it, I will override the governors.”
During the 8 a.m. service, Calvary pastor Ken Graves thanked Trump for his support. “I’m very grateful to the chief executive for speaking up for our churches,” he told those gathered for the service, none of whom were wearing masks. Outside, a handful of people were wearing them but only intermittently.
Graves encouraged worshippers to resist the “police state.” Earlier this month, the church filed a complaint in U.S. District Court alleging that Mills’ decision to limit gatherings to 10 or fewer people violates religious freedom guaranteed by the Constitution. The church lost but has appealed the decision. During a prayer, Graves asked God to “open the eyes of the state” and “cause people to recognize what is being done.”
Speaking to the Daily Beast after the service, Graves said the church has been “in a state of defiance” against Maine for the past month.
“We’ll continue to meet in person in greater numbers than the state will allow,” he said. “The state has no authority to ban people from going to church.”
A woman carries a Trump campaign sign following indoor services held at Calvary Chapel May 24 in Orrington, Maine. The signs and other campaign literature were available in the parking lot of the church before and after services May 24, which were held in defiance of state mandates.
Johanna S. Billings
Calvary Chapel has been holding outdoor services every Sunday for the past month to demonstrate that “what really matters to us is being able to gather,” Graves said. On Sunday, two days after Trump’s announcement, the 8 a.m. service moved indoors. Two additional services took place outside as they had previously. The church will continue this schedule.
Graves maintains congregation members are just as safe attending church services indoors as they are going to Walmart.
“We can do a better job [of keeping people safe] than Walmart can,” he said. “We’re motivated by love.”
“We still recognize that it’s a highly contagious virus,” said Eric Meyerson, who serves as an assistant pastor. Attendees were advised not to shake hands and to make use of the hand sanitizer that was provided. Stacie Haverlock, who heads the church’s school ministry, regularly sanitized surfaces including door handles, and cleaned the restrooms between uses.
The church removed some of the seating on the gym floor to create physical distance. In the bleachers on either side of the room, people sat in small groups presumably with close family members. A few people sat outside the gym, watching the service on a TV screens. When services were over, people crowded around a table in the parking lot to get Trump campaign signs.
People are allowed to address their physical health during the pandemic and should be able to address their spiritual health, said Haverlock.
“There’s just nothing like getting together with fellow believers and worshipping our god,” she said.
Jade Dileonardi, who attended the indoor service with her husband, Michael, agreed.
“It strengthens our faith having other believers around,” she said.
Op Ed: Attention all Trump supporting Christians -- Please continue to defy the lockdown order. Jesus will protect you. For everyone else, follow the science.Jesus will not protect non Trump supporters.
Can guarantee that he was never on it to begin with. He is only pushing it to help his friends that profit from the drug. He knows full well that it is dangerous, he just doesn't care if people die as long as it makes he, his family and his friends more money.
1 hour ago
A massive study found that coronavirus patients who took the malaria drug touted by Trump had a higher risk of death.
1 hour ago
Someone needs to drive home the medical point to Doc Trump that medications are not approved for use based on rave reviews or because many people think it saved their lives. Without proper testing there is no way to know if a drug is effective against a specific malady or how it should be used against that malady or if there are dangerous side effects. As Mr. Trump has said, the cure shouldn't be worse than the disease. It's interesting that our stable genius leader loves to talk about those rave reviews but is less enthusiastic about reviews that aren't so positive regarding his favorite drugs. Even a Kool Aid Trumpite should be able to understand that whether a drug works or doesn't is not a political fact but ratehr a scientific one. Either it does or it doesn't regardless of what Donald Trump thinks.
2 hours ago
He was never given it. They gave him sugar pills which he promptly ground up and snorted with his Adderall
1 hour ago
The next phase for him is to INJECT HIS LUNGS WITH DISINFECTANT/BLEACH AND HE WILL BE CURED!
Fox News anchor Chris Wallace took aim at White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Sunday, slamming her for going after reporters about their religious faith and for telling them what questions they should be asking.
McEnany had on Friday accused journalists of “desperately” wanting churches and places of worship to stay closed after she was questioned about President Donald Trump’s claim he would “override” governors who ignored his demand to immediately reopen churches amid the COVID-19 pandemic. A reporter was asking what legal authority the president has to do so.
“I spent six years in the White House briefing room covering Ronald Reagan. I have to say, I never — and in the years since too — I never saw a White House press secretary act like that,” Wallace said to a panel on “Fox News Sunday.”
Donna Brazile, the former interim Democratic National Committee chair, responded that she personally knows McEnany to be an “extraordinary person” but criticized the “combative” approach she’d taken in her new role.
Wallace continued by playing another excerpt from Friday’s press briefing. During that clip, McEnany posed a series of questions ― complete with prepared slides ― that she said journalists should be asking about former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Conservative commentator Jonah Goldberg labeled McEnany’s behavior “indefensible and grotesque.”
“What Donald Trump wants in a press secretary is a Twitter troll who goes on attack,” Golberg told Wallace. “Doesn’t actually care about doing the job they have, and instead wants to impress really an audience of one and make another part of official Washington another one of these essentially cable news and Twitter gladiatorial arenas.”
Wallace added that McEnany “isn’t acting like she’s working for the public” and acts instead like “what she used to be, which is a spokesperson for the Trump campaign.”
Another panelist, Josh Holmes, the former chief of staff for Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), defended McEnany. He claimed her behavior was different from past press secretaries because any spokesperson in the Trump administration and campaign “finds themselves under constant attack by the press.”
“Let me just say, Sam Donaldson and me in the Reagan White House, we were pretty tough on the White House press secretaries and we never had our religious beliefs questioned or were lectured on what we should ask,” Wallace replied.
Wallace, a frequent and vocal Trump critic, was the subject of Trump Twitter outrage last month after a “Fox News Sunday” segment critical of his administration’s pandemic response.
His latest comments will likely come as another escalation in tensions with Trump. While some primetime Fox News personalities routinely stump for the president, negative coverage last week sent Trump into a Twitter tailspin against the network. On Monday, anchor Neil Cavuto had harshly criticized the president’s claim he’s using the unproven and potentially dangerous drug hydroxychloroquine to protect against coronavirus.
Trump declared Monday he was “looking for a new outlet” and on Thursday complained that Fox News was “doing nothing” to help him get re-elected in November. And on Friday, he raged at the network for airing a poll that showed him trailing presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
If Trump wore a mask it would smear his orange clown paint.
4 hours ago
Dr. Birx said there's 'clear scientific evidence' masks help, but she assumes Trump doesn't wear one because he's 'able to maintain' social distancing. Trump translation science smillence
4 hours ago
She's watching her words and she knows she can't go against trump in any way, shape or form. If she speaks the scientific way each of us should abide to the mask wearing, etc., then she will be ousted by trump immediately. I don't like the fear he puts into everyone who works for him in the WH. This is the start of a dictatorship.
3 hours ago
And just today.
Trump wasn’t wearing a face mask while golfing, nor did he appear to be maintaining the social distancing guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.
5 hours ago
Trump not wearing a mask gives me hope for a better tomorrow
4 hours ago
At a Ford plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan, last week, Trump wore a mask while touring the factory but told reporters he removed it for the media briefing because he "didn't want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it," despite being told by the state's attorney general that he had a "LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY" to wear one. This is the Republican's finest.
4 hours ago
So his rule is if everyone else wears them I don't have to. Great leadership there.
3 hours ago
Dr. Birx said there's 'clear scientific evidence' masks help, but she assumes Trump doesn't wear one because he's 'able to maintain' social distancing: The photo appears to show Trump well with in 6 feet of Birx & Fauci
4 hours ago
The modern surgical mask to stop germs was 1st used in 1897. There is over 100 years of scientific data to back up using a mask to stop germs. .
4 hours ago
The doctor says you should wear a mask in respect for everyone else. Trump doesn't respect anyone else that is why he never wears one.
5 hours ago
President bone spurs now makes everyone at the white house wear a mask, but he still won't.
3 hours ago
This "doctor" is not fighting for human safety, she is fighting to keep her job in which worries me a lot.
5 hours ago
wearing a mask is a sign of weakness Donald J Trump
6 hours ago
LIBERATE the White House & West Wing .... masks are optional ... social distancing is optional like presiDunce Frump is encouraging in the states. open the White house up for regular tours of the peoples house & only test 1% of all White House staffers per day & others doing work there which is waaaaaaay more % than any state or rest of the country.
3 hours ago
Really caught up on Trump's mask, Ralph Northam Governor of Virginia and a physician went without one after ordering Virginians to wear them.
4 hours ago
The prob with masks really is that it doesn't necessarily help the mask wearer. It really helps makes sure asymptomatic people don't spread the virus as much. Ergo... since it doesn't benefit ME, a lot of people can care less. Selfish but true.
5 hours ago
He's always in a crowd. He never wears a mask.
BTW, as our leader, he should lead by example and, at minimum, always have a mask on in front of the camera.
4 hours ago
"At a Ford plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan, last week, Trump wore a mask while touring the factory but told reporters he removed it for the media briefing because he "didn't want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it," despite being told by the state's attorney general that he had a "legal responsibility" to wear one." There is a child in the Oval Office.
4 hours ago
I think Melania has been keeping six feet from Donald for years.
5 hours ago
He doesn't wear one because of his make-up(the orange). It comes off on the mask. He looked too funny.
3 hours ago
Most knew all along masks worked, but the government and the media both told us early on that masks didn’t help. How many lives did that cost us?
Trump wasn’t wearing a face mask while golfing, nor did he appear to be maintaining the social distancing guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Donald J Trump
BTW, as our leader, he should lead by example and, at minimum, always have a mask on in front of the camera.